


A Word of Warning

by Eileniessa



Series: Yennaia Flash Fiction Challenge [5]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Angst, F/F, Letters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26033548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eileniessa/pseuds/Eileniessa
Summary: The letter lay untouched on her desk, its creases marked by dust...
Relationships: Tissaia de Vries/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Series: Yennaia Flash Fiction Challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880581
Comments: 14
Kudos: 28





	A Word of Warning

The letter lay untouched on her desk, its creases marked by dust. It had been there for the best part of the season, dreary Autumn if you cared to know, waiting for her to slit the red seal marked by her distinguished stamp. Yennefer had come back from an evening ride with her gracious host, unknowing protector, and occasional bed warmer Crach an Craite, to find it waiting on her desk. No address. No name. Just _her_ seal.

Yennefer had eased herself into the stiff wooden chair behind the desk and uncorked a bottle of wine stashed in her bottom draw with shaking fingers. Two drops fell from the rim of the glass and stained the bottom right corner and she watched them sink into the parchment and form a purple rose. After half a bottle of wine, Yennefer had taken her things from the desk and moved them to the butterfly table hiding in the other corner of the room. Two full moons later it remained her new desk.

She never did open that letter, and so she only had herself to blame when the charlatan waiting for her in a cave three miles from Kaer Trolde with information about a fertility cure drove a blade through her heart. Yennefer didn’t consider herself particularly morbid, but when ones is faced with the prospect of an age-less existence in a mortal world, you can’t help but wonder what it might feel like to die. And of all the things she had imagined, Yennefer never would have thought that it tickled.

The blade felt like a goose feather against her skin and if not for the horror of the situation she might have laughed. She’d always been the ticklish sort. She was so caught up in the peculiar and unexpected feeling that the thought of retaliation didn’t cross her mind until the moment had passed. She watched the charlatan shrivel up like a grape left in the sun, his skin bleached a ghoulish grey, and his scream strangled in his throat. He fell to his knees and with a last shuddering breath his ashes buried themselves in the sand at Tissaia’s feet.

The first thing that caught Yennefer’s attention what that Tissaia wasn’t wearing a dress. In fact, she was almost in a state of undress considering the long and annoyingly modest gowns she typically favoured. In their place, Tissaia was wearing brown leather pants and a white cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal bare arms painted in blank runes that sparkled with flecks of Cintrian blue.

The second, which probably would have been and should have been the first had the sight of Tissaia’s nakedness not been so damn distracting, was that she wasn’t solid anymore. The blade had gone through her and on further inspection, she determined that the source of her sudden change in matter was the chaos Tissaia was channelling through her body and releasing from her right palm. The power of the waves crashing against Yennefer’s aurora were inspiring.

Yennefer pulled the blade out of her stomach and dropped it. Tissaia lowered her outstretched hand and Yennefer’s feet sunk further into the sand.

“I take it you never read my letter,” said Tissaia.

“I had other more important matters to attend to,” said Yennefer.

Tissaia looked unconvinced. Nothing unusual there. “More important than your own life?” she asked.

Yennefer bit her lip. She had been about to ask why Tissaia had not come to her if the message were that important, but considering the circumstances, she thought better of it.

Tissaia considered her for a moment and then turned towards the cave entrance. Her right leg gave out and she fell, be it oh so gracefully, to her knees.

“Are you hurt?” Yennefer asked as she knelt in front of her.

“No,” said Tissaia, “just weary.”

“You’re out of practice.”

“If you are keen to prove that then by all try your hand at maintaining invisibility for several moons.”

“Why so long?” Yennefer asked.

“I did not know when you would come,” said Tissaia.

Yennefer had received word that her charlatan had landed three nights ago, but she’d delayed their meeting to attend and then recover from a local festival. Had Tissaia truly been waiting that long? There were bags under her eyes and a slope in her shoulders and Yennefer felt worn just looking at her.

“Why are you here?” Yennefer asked.

“I see you are ever as grateful,” said Tissaia.

“Tell me.”

Tissaia got to her feet and, to Yennefer’s surprise, offered her a hand before attending to the creases in her shirt. “You already know,” she said.

Yennefer laughed and got up without help. “I don’t know what I expected. When have you ever been straight with me?”

“Would you believe me if I was?” Tissaia asked.

Yennefer thought she probably wouldn’t. “Goodbye, Rectoress,” she said, and opened a portal.

Sand skipped across the stone floor of her quarters and the scent of sea and ash lingered on the tip of her tongue. Yennefer blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light after the dim of the cave, and stumbled to her old desk. She grabbed the letter, dust sticking to her sweaty palms, and threw it into the fireplace. The paper curled and blackened and the red wax melted and dripped onto the logs. Her wax. Her seal. Gone with the lies that she cared.

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd try and write something serious for a change. I'm terrible at it xD


End file.
